Ancient Egypt vs. Mesopotamia

Thousands of years ago, the first civilizations emerged onto the face of the Earth. They weren’t as diverse as some of today’s civilizations, but, they were still civilizations. Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia are maybe the most widely known of the first early civilizations. The two civilizations had similarities and differences in their political, economical, religious, and cultural aspects. Both of the civilizations had a form of political system. They both had a ruler or a king (or pharaoh). Both civilizations rulers thought that they had a connection to the gods through their leadership. Though their belief was similar, they were a little different. The Egyptians and pharaohs believed that they were the incarnation of Horus and the son of the sun god, Re. Both of these civilizations were economically lucky to have built a civilization near an abundant source of water. The rivers they settled on had efficient seasonal flooding which helped their agriculture grow. These floods were seasonal meaning they happened at the same time every year. They also happened at the best time for crops to grow. The two civilizations needed more than just food to thrive. In Mesopotamia, there would often be disagreements between farmers. That was one of the reasons Hammurabi’s code was developed. The code was the law of Mesopotamia and helped establish justice. Unlike Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt did not have a law code. The reason being, the people believed that the divine king or pharaoh was the source of everything including justice and law. Almost every civilization has religious aspects. This also applies to ancient civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia. Both of these civilizations were polytheistic. Because Egypt was “the gift of the Nile” and generally prosperous and harmonious, Egyptian gods tended to reflect a positive religion with an emphasis on a positive afterlife. The most popular god, Osiris, was also the law...

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

...Throughout history there has been a tremendous amount of civilization eruptions, eruptions as in complex creations of diversity. Mesopotamia and Egypt may very well be considered some of the world’s most profound ancient civilizations dating all the way back to the beginning of time. In other words, Mesopotamia and Egypt both had a severe impact in the expansion of agriculture, development of advanced technology, as well as the social hierarchy system; all which are still present today.
Agriculture began in Mesopotamia where the environmental factors may have favored this particular region; although Mesopotamia had cool rainy winters and hot dry summers this weather did not encourage an abundance of plant life. Many factors contributed to the invention of agriculture. One main factor was the fact that hunting and gathering provided a more stable food supply, another being that there was a certain amount of cereal grains located in the Middle East; Both factors led to the allowance of more permanent villages for the people to settle down in. Being able to settle down, however, only increased the growing population because of the fact that women could produce more children in a more permanent environment. Therefore the villages grew needing more food supply than the hunting and gathering method could supply. Through it all, the people were given the opportunity to discovery...

...similarly in that they had kings at the top, followed by other officials and merchants, and at the bottom the slaves and peasants. They both had their own form of writing; Mesopotamia had cuneiform, and Egypt had hieroglyphics and cursive script, respectively. While they are similar in many different political, social, and cultural activities and ideas, they have enough contrast to be viewed as different societies.
Politically, because they were geographically open to envision, Mesopotamia culture created compact self-governing political units- the city-states. By the third millennium B.C.E. the concept of king (lugal) developed, quite possibly because of increased quarrels over resources. The power of religious leaders decreased as the power of kings increased. And although the kings took over control of temples, Mesopotamian kings did not claim divine power. Political changes occurred in Mesopotania because of the succession of people that followed the initial Sumerian people, like the Akkadians, the Kassites Medes and Persians who established their temporary political dominance. By 1750 B. C. E., the written law code of King Hammurabi, was used to maintain political authority and continuity.In sharp contrast is the continuity of political history in ancientEgypt. Legendary King Menes united Upper and Lower Egypt into one nation that lasted with continuity of culture from 3,100-1070...

...Tim Xu
Early Mesopotamia and AncientEgypt
The ancient civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia were both fairly successful at what they were able to do with their surroundings. Gathering food, hunting, and even just the ability to exist were essential tools that both civilizations excelled in. The Early Mesopotamians and Ancient Egyptians were politically through their type of governments, yet contrasting in their eventual downfalls to neighboring peoples. In addition, both civilizations were divergent religiously through their beliefs in the afterlife, while sharing polytheism as a trait.
Politically, both Egypt and Mesopotamia shared quite a few traits. For example, both civilizations were absolute monarchies and theocracies. In Egypt’s case, the pharaoh was the divine and absolute monarch as well as a religious leader. His subjects believed him to be a descendant of the sun god Re, and built numerous megastructures (pyramids) in his honor and as a tomb for the afterlife. Furthermore, early Mesopotamia featured various city-states, with individual monarchs casting their rule over their territories. Overall, while the monarchs of Egypt and Mesopotamia were religious leaders, the Pharaoh was divine while the Mesopotamian kings were divinely inspired. On the other hand, a political aspect that both...

...In AncientMesopotamia and AncientEgypt the kings ruled in very different ways. Although the kings of both lands were closely tied to religious institutions they had very different responsibilities to their subjects because of the culture of these areas. In Egypt, a cultural belief in Ma'at, a religious concept of universal harmony and repetition cause the kings to act very differently then the kings of Mesopotamia who have to satisfy the feelings of expansionism caused by their geographic location. These differences are best seen in the way these kings handled cultural development, keeping the support of the people, and even the life expectancy of the kings themselves. Because Mesopotamia is so centrally located it is constantly surrounded by other cultural charge.
Different languages, ethnicities, and material culture floated around the Near East and were constantly influencing and changing the people of Mesopotamia. This means that kings had to develop attitudes of expansionism and cultural adaptability if they wanted to have an empire. Sumerian and Acadian kings regularly controlling or were controlled by groups of non-Semitic people. This means that these kings had to act in ways that inflicted their own culture on others or adapt to the culture of other groups constantly. This would eventually make it harder for empires to meet the needs of the various...

...Although Old Kingdom Egypt and AncientMesopotamia shared some similarities in their economic and social aspects of civilization, they differed greatly culturally and in their political order.
There are known to be many parallels between the famous Old Kingdom Egyptians and Ancient Mesopotamians. In particular, they had very similar economies in terms of the kind of work they did, what they produced, and how they distributed it. Either civilization probably would not have existed if it weren’t for the Agricultural Revolution that began around 10,000 BCE. Agriculture has a huge influence on their economies because both civilizations were built around these river valleys in the Fertile Crescent. Alike, they both grew wheat & barley and domesticated sheep & other animals. The rich silt, dependable flooding, and irrigation of Egypt and the irrigation technology and availability of two rivers in Mesopotamia created a surplus of food. Food surpluses thus lead to a larger population and job specialization. Agriculture became a primary part of both economies, and a job such as pottery making became a huge tool when it comes to storing and transporting goods. Weaving was also popular amongst Egyptians and Mesopotamians to make cloth out of cotton. Teachers used writing tablets and drew pictograms, cuneiform, hieroglyphics, and cursive script to teach boys the language. Many of these educated...

...In the same way that Ancient Greece greatly impacted Ancient Rome’s culture, set-up, etc., the Egyptians used Mesopotamia as a model almost for their civilization. Involuntarily or not, Egypt and Mesopotamia had key similarities; for example, they were both polytheistic and depended greatly on agriculture and had similar uses of it. On the contrary, Egyptians developed their own ideas and beliefs, too. Their writing system, social structure and classes and way of leadership all differed from Mesopotamia. The reason is that Egypt , although following Mesopotamia’s footsteps in some aspects, was in a different area, had different people, different mindsets, resources. No two civilizations are completely alike; they all have their own quirks and uniquities.
While Mesopotamia used cuneiform as a form of writing, Egypt used hieroglyphics. Hieroglyphics featured picture symbols standing for words, syllables, or individual sounds, and they were written on papyrus. Mesopotamia carved wedge-shaped symbols into clay tablets; this process is called cuneiform. Cuneiform is much more simple, less time-consuming, and cheaper in comparison to hieroglyphics. The reason for this could be that Mesopotamians and Egyptians had access to different resources: Mesopotamia had vast plains for clay, while Egypt had the Nile...

...
Read this essay on Egypt ! (694 Words)
Egypt is a country that is situated within the North Africa mainly. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Sudan to the south, Israel and Gaza strip to the northeast and Libya to the west and red Sea to the east.
It is one among the most populous countries in Africa and the Middle East. The best monuments in Egypt are the Giza pyramid complex and it Great Sphinx were built by the ancient civilization of Egypt. The best tourism spot in Egypt is the Red Sea Riviera. When talking about the economy, it has one among the most diversified in the Middle East.
To have a better understanding of Egypt, we shall go into the history of Egypt. Around 3150 BC, a unified kingdom was formed by King Menes that led to a series of empire that ruled Egypt for about the next three millennia.
The Egyptian culture was flourished during this period and it remained distinct in all aspects like religion, arts, customs and language. The first two dynasties constituted the Old kingdom and they have constructed most of the pyramids in Egypt.
The daily life in Egypt revolved around the river Nile and due to the yearly flooding, it several rulers. There was the Roman and Ptolemaic Egypt and the last ruler of that era were enriched the land and thus made it very...

...Compare and contrast the religious beliefs of the people of Mesopotamia and the people of Egypt.
One major difference in the religious beliefs of ancientEgypt and Mesopotamia was there belief in eternal life. Mesopotamians believed that once you died, you then ceased to exist in any world and there was no afterlife. On the contrary, Egyptians went to great lengths to preserve the dead in order for them to flourish in the afterlife. Once a person died, depend on their class, their body was mummified, which allowed them to enter the afterlife. Pharaohs could spend their whole lives designing and planning a tomb or pyramid to be buried in. Once they had died, their body was buried with all of their possessions because of the belief that they would be needed in the afterlife. Often, food, slaves, and even favorite pets were buried too.
Episodes of culture transmission of agriculture and technology are blatantly obvious throughout the pre-classic era. Choose one of the following agriculture or technological advances and explain hoe it was transmitted from one specific culture to another (or several others), and how that new knowledge affected the receiving civilization (ie. Their success in overthrowing neighbors, their population growth, growth in commerce, etc.) Write one to two paragraphs describing this process. –Bronze Metallurgy
In Egypt, the transfer from stone to bronze had a...